Analysis: France capitalised on Uruguay’s fatal flaw
Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann scored the goals to fire France into the semi-finals of the World Cup.
When Les Bleus locked horns with the supposed immovable object Uruguay, many expected a pragmatic and tense encounter.
That was chiefly down to the South Americans employing a style similar to that of Atletico Madrid. Diligence, unwavering team spirit and knowing their focal points had seen them cruise through the group stages, before outsmarting European champions Portugal.
France only showed their mesmerising best in the previous round against Argentina. Prior to the knockouts, Les Bleus marginally squeezed through the group stages.
That is why their clash was anticipated to be a cagey one. Didier Deschamps even alluded to the fact going behind in Nizhny Novgorod could unravel France.
Instead, the exact opposite happened.
One brutally exposed weakness
Uruguay seemed impenetrable.
Solid wins over Egypt and Saudi Arabia hardly tested their defence, however they followed up with superb triumphs against hosts Russia and the Portuguese.
Despite the manner of their victories Uruguay had yet to face one, crucial, challenge. They hadn’t gone behind.
And when France edged ahead through a well-worked free kick, Oscar Tabarez’s men didn’t know what to do with themselves.
Conceding just once in the seven games before they met France, the Uruguayans entered uncharted territory after falling behind.
It proved territory too difficult to handle.
Without the potency of injured Edinson Cavani – injured from the previous match – Uruguay lacked the electric partnership between him and Luis Suarez. The Barcelona striker didn’t look his usual self here.
Chasing games isn’t what Uruguay are used to, and it meant they needed to break from their stalwart stature and open the match up.
Instead they tried to frustrate France with a number of niggly fouls, crafty elbows, which kept the flow of the game at a minimum. It seemed the only way they could combat the French, who garnered more confidence and passed the ball around with more quality when they broke the deadlock.
Cavani sorely missed
Had Edinson Cavani been on the pitch, it might have been a different story entirely.
The almost telepathic chemistry between him and Luis Suarez had spurred Uruguay up to this point, and the magnitude of the setback was accentuated as France’s defence were made to do precious little.
Suarez’s partner for this game – Christian Stuani – seldom got involved and didn’t forge a notable opportunity.
Rodrigo Bentancur hardly offered any vibrancy, and Lucas Torreira was there solely to screen the back four.
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Cavani sat on the sidelines watching Uruguay capitulate. Who knows where they would be if he didn’t pick up the unfortunate knock in the round of 16.